Not if there is no Restoration. For now, it is certain that the Stuarts would have been more unpopular than ITTL - their openly pro-Catholic policies wouldn't have been well-received at home.
King's Dominion: a Fractured North American Timeline
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Chapter 3: Shining Fortress
Chapter 3: Shining Fortress
If you listened to a Boston sermon in 1634, you would be forgiven for thinking that the King had invited Satan himself to North America. When word of the Catholic Declaration reached New England, it all but confirmed the long-standing suspicion that Charles I was an agent of Rome, bent on plunging England and her colonies into Catholic sin [1].
To many New Englanders, the Catholic Declaration changed the mission of colonization. Initially, escape from what they saw as the increasing oppression and heresy of the Anglican Church was simple: remove yourself from the source of sin and live a life of virtue in the New World. However, Charles I demonstrated that distance was not enough. Heretics were not content to fester in place – they went on the offensive and spread their ideas to anywhere they could reach. Everyone dreaded the day when the King would inevitably declare Plymouth and Massachusetts to be Catholic safe havens as well, ruining their Puritan society.
A shining city upon a hill was not enough. They would need to become a shining fortress.
Though most New Englanders could agree upon the loose concept of a “shining fortress,” what exactly that looked like within the church and state was up to debate. And debate they did.
The most widely accepted principle throughout New English religious society was Separatism – not in the political sense (though more than a few radicals were willing to openly defy the Crown), but a theological one. To Separatists, the Anglican Church was beyond saving, and the only solution was to form a new, local church [2].
The two most prominent figures of the Separatist movement (and consequently the centerpieces of political and religious life in late 1630s Boston) were former Governor John Endecott and Reverend Roger Williams. Despite sharing a core belief in Separatism and a history of cooperation (Endecott was the one who brought Williams to Massachusetts in the first place), the two men represented two ends of an emerging political spectrum. The issue at the center of the debate was religious tolerance.
Endecott was a zealous follower of archetypical Puritan beliefs. He believed that the only tolerable faith was one that aligned closely with his own. King Charles I’s folly, he argued, was not that he had oppressed his countrymen for their faith, but simply that he had championed the wrong faith. Endecott’s vision of a shining fortress was a colonial government that stamped out all heretical beliefs. Puritanism would live on because no Catholic or other heretic would survive within its borders for long.
Williams, on the other hand, passionately argued for religious freedom. Though he viewed many faiths as incorrect, if not morally reprehensible, he believed the state should stay out of religious affairs entirely. Religion was nigh impossible to perfect, and the state limiting worship – either by suppressing some faiths or promoting others – limited the opportunity to reform and improve beliefs. By explicitly supporting Catholicism (and Anglicanism, for that matter) in Virginia, Williams argued, King Charles I was suppressing all other faiths and thus dooming the colony to inferior and sinful beliefs [3]. Williams’s vision of a shining fortress was a society that protected Puritans by refusing to tolerate religious discrimination.
These men weren’t alone either. Endecott had a powerful ally on his side: Governor Thomas Dudley, who came to power mere months after the Catholic Declaration was issued. Williams had a governor of his own on his side: Henry Vane, who would replace Dudley in 1636. He also had the support of the controversial preacher Anne Hutchinson, who had an ever-expanding group of loyal followers. In the middle was John Winthrop, one of the founders of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Though not a Separatist himself, he was sympathetic to their cause and found it increasingly pertinent to keep any criticism of separatism to himself.
With a wide range of big-name religious figures clashing over fundamental issues of church, state, and tolerance, one may have expected to see 1630s New England descend into a metaphorical (perhaps even literal) bloodbath. However, the political and religious leaders of the region remained remarkably loyal to each other. It seemed that, despite the palace intrigue, each figure recognized the other as necessary to keeping the fortress together.
Nothing served as a better example of the emerging shining fortress culture than the trials and tribulations of Roger Williams. Though he was a charismatic and popular figure in Massachusetts Bay in the early 1630s [4], his views often rubbed up against traditionalists like Endecott. When he returned to Boston in 1633 after a brief stint in Plymouth, he immediately faced charges of undermining the legitimacy of the King and Charter, as well as spreading “dangerous ideas.”
Weeks before Williams was set to appear in court, news of the Catholic Declaration reached Boston. The trial, which was over his remarks decrying the charter of Plymouth as illegitimate, ended in Williams’s favor remarkably quickly after that [5].
As outrage over the Catholic Declaration swept across New England and the idea of a shining fortress emerged, the proceedings surrounding Williams’s heresy charges slowed, gradually at first, until the courts started giving him a series of delays. Eventually the charges were dropped, in no small part due to Governor Dudley’s influence. The message was clear: not everyone liked Williams’s beliefs, but he was more valuable to the Puritan cause as a free man [6].
Anne Hutchinson met a similar fate to Williams. Many prominent members of the Boston church wanted to push her out due to the so-called “Antinomian Controversy.” In the face of the patriarchal Massachusetts clergy, Hutchinson was not let off the hook quite as easily as Williams. However, allies like Reverend John Wheelwright pointed to her unique talent for galvanizing the women of Boston for the Puritan cause (albeit her version of Puritanism) and successfully framed her efforts as a bulwark against Catholicism [7].
As mentioned before, political separatism was at most a small minority opinion, but sympathies towards the sentiment were growing, particularly among the more radical liberals and strictest conservatives. It was not like anyone important was openly declaring independence from England, but remarks that would’ve gotten someone thrown in jail in 1625 were reduced to mild cultural taboos by 1635.
Roger Williams’s aforementioned run-in with the law over the Colony’s charter was a prominent example of shifting attitudes. When he first questioned the legitimacy of Massachusetts’s charter, some called for his imprisonment or banishment for questioning an act of the King. However, within a few years the charges were dropped and he was more popular than ever, as if the event had never happened. Furthermore, plenty of prominent Massachusites [8] would soon question another act of the King, the Catholic Declaration, and see no repercussions.
On the other side of the spectrum, John Endecott was in a very similar position to Roger Williams. In 1634 he defaced the flag of Massachusetts for bearing St. George’s Cross, declaring it a symbol of the papacy. At first there were rumblings of censuring him, but as outrage towards the Catholic Declaration swelled and calls for Puritan unity grew, those rumblings died out [9].
Among the average pilgrim, one might hear someone declare that they would never return to England. The implication was that England had not just forced them out, but that it was incapable of being their home anymore. Such a remark was seen as subversive and would receive stern looks and shakes of the head, but nothing more. While everyone still considered themselves Englishmen, it became increasingly common to hear rebukes of English authority and society – not just religion.
The role of women in this shining fortress was another subject of fierce debate. The dominant view of society was highly patriarchal. The most conservative leaders believed that women were property of their husbands, could not own property of their own, had to adhere to a strict dress code (including covered hair), and that women had no role outside the domestic, meaning no power in political, social, or religious circles. The most radical of conservatives even spoke in hushed tones about witchcraft. Moderates believed in most of these principles, but to lesser degrees. For example, John Winthrop believed that women’s participation in society was good for the spiritual health of the colony but was outraged at Anne Hutchinson’s participation in “masculine” activities like leading the church.
Anne Hutchinson was the principal advocate for the rights of New English women, though Roger Williams and other prominent liberal men backed her ideas. Hutchinson drew attention to the commonly held belief that men and women were spiritual equals and argued that barring women from religious, social, and political leadership violated that equality and thus went against God’s word. As she further entrenched herself in the Boston clergy, she met stiff resistance from all but the most liberal of male preachers but made significant inroads with Bostonian women. Her female followers in turn applied pressure within their households. This pressure didn’t create a society of feminists, but it did take the edge off of the most extreme conservative views of the time [10].
Late 1630s Plymouth and Massachusetts were hotbeds of religious anger, debate, an ever-evolving sense of societal identity, and, most of all, fear and paranoia. All that fear was directed at the existential threat of the Crown and English Church stripping away their religious identity. With a common enemy to fear, theologians who may have otherwise torn each other to shreds with accusations of heresy instead recognized their similarities. Though the exact nature of the burgeoning New English society was yet to be determined, the idea of the Shining Fortress coalesced into a common meaning by 1640. The Shining Fortress was Puritan solidarity.
[1] This was a common rumor in OTL as well. Between Charles I’s Catholic wife, Catholic children, charter for Catholic-friendly Maryland, and some Catholic-aligned beliefs about the structure of the Anglican Church, Puritans on either side of the pond heavily suspected he was a Catholic. ITTL the act of “forcing” Catholicism upon a large area like Virginia is seen as harsher than the creation of Maryland in OTL.
[2] Separatism was only a small, but vocal minority opinion in OTL. ITTL both anti-Catholic and anti-Anglican sentiments are much stronger in New England due to what many interpret as the head of the Anglican Church forcibly converting a large swathe of English land to Catholicism.
[3] This is admittedly an odd reading of Williams’s philosophy compared to how we view him in OTL, especially in heavily Catholic Rhode Island. Though we put Maryland and Williams’s Rhode Island in the same boat of “early religious tolerance” in OTL because both had Catholic populations, it’s important to note that Williams distinguished between general freedom of religion and a state explicitly endorsing certain faiths, even minority ones like Catholicism. Additionally, Williams’s beliefs are likely to skew more anti-Catholic ITTL due to the general zeitgeist in New England and the political benefit of appealing to anti-Catholics.
[4] More popular than OTL due to anti-Catholic outrage making Separatism much more popular.
[5] Williams believed that the King had issued illegitimate charters because he had not purchased the land from the native Narragansett people. We’ll get into these views in a later chapter. This trial ended in his favor IOTL as well, but ends faster ITTL.
[6] IOTL Williams was banished from Massachusetts Bay over these charges. He would venture southwest and found Providence Plantation, leading to the Colony (and then State) of Rhode Island. With political and Puritan unity being much more important in TTL’s New England, he stays in Boston, butterflying away Rhode Island. Sorry to any residents of the Ocean State! I didn’t go into this intending to butterfly Rhode Island, but keeping Williams in Massachusetts felt too interesting to pass up.
[7] Hutchinson was also exiled and fled to Rhode Island IOTL. Like Williams, she’ll stick around as an important figure in Boston.
[8] I know the term is now Massachusettsan/Massachusettsian, but I like the sound of this archaic term better and it fits the era, so I’m sticking with it!
[9] IOTL Endecott was barred from political office for a year over the action, but was forgiven during the English Civil War, during which time he returned to the governorship.
[10] Notably, Anne Hutchinson’s continued presence in Boston politics will butterfly the Salem Witch Trials.
If you listened to a Boston sermon in 1634, you would be forgiven for thinking that the King had invited Satan himself to North America. When word of the Catholic Declaration reached New England, it all but confirmed the long-standing suspicion that Charles I was an agent of Rome, bent on plunging England and her colonies into Catholic sin [1].
To many New Englanders, the Catholic Declaration changed the mission of colonization. Initially, escape from what they saw as the increasing oppression and heresy of the Anglican Church was simple: remove yourself from the source of sin and live a life of virtue in the New World. However, Charles I demonstrated that distance was not enough. Heretics were not content to fester in place – they went on the offensive and spread their ideas to anywhere they could reach. Everyone dreaded the day when the King would inevitably declare Plymouth and Massachusetts to be Catholic safe havens as well, ruining their Puritan society.
A shining city upon a hill was not enough. They would need to become a shining fortress.
Though most New Englanders could agree upon the loose concept of a “shining fortress,” what exactly that looked like within the church and state was up to debate. And debate they did.
The most widely accepted principle throughout New English religious society was Separatism – not in the political sense (though more than a few radicals were willing to openly defy the Crown), but a theological one. To Separatists, the Anglican Church was beyond saving, and the only solution was to form a new, local church [2].
The two most prominent figures of the Separatist movement (and consequently the centerpieces of political and religious life in late 1630s Boston) were former Governor John Endecott and Reverend Roger Williams. Despite sharing a core belief in Separatism and a history of cooperation (Endecott was the one who brought Williams to Massachusetts in the first place), the two men represented two ends of an emerging political spectrum. The issue at the center of the debate was religious tolerance.
Endecott was a zealous follower of archetypical Puritan beliefs. He believed that the only tolerable faith was one that aligned closely with his own. King Charles I’s folly, he argued, was not that he had oppressed his countrymen for their faith, but simply that he had championed the wrong faith. Endecott’s vision of a shining fortress was a colonial government that stamped out all heretical beliefs. Puritanism would live on because no Catholic or other heretic would survive within its borders for long.
Williams, on the other hand, passionately argued for religious freedom. Though he viewed many faiths as incorrect, if not morally reprehensible, he believed the state should stay out of religious affairs entirely. Religion was nigh impossible to perfect, and the state limiting worship – either by suppressing some faiths or promoting others – limited the opportunity to reform and improve beliefs. By explicitly supporting Catholicism (and Anglicanism, for that matter) in Virginia, Williams argued, King Charles I was suppressing all other faiths and thus dooming the colony to inferior and sinful beliefs [3]. Williams’s vision of a shining fortress was a society that protected Puritans by refusing to tolerate religious discrimination.
These men weren’t alone either. Endecott had a powerful ally on his side: Governor Thomas Dudley, who came to power mere months after the Catholic Declaration was issued. Williams had a governor of his own on his side: Henry Vane, who would replace Dudley in 1636. He also had the support of the controversial preacher Anne Hutchinson, who had an ever-expanding group of loyal followers. In the middle was John Winthrop, one of the founders of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Though not a Separatist himself, he was sympathetic to their cause and found it increasingly pertinent to keep any criticism of separatism to himself.
With a wide range of big-name religious figures clashing over fundamental issues of church, state, and tolerance, one may have expected to see 1630s New England descend into a metaphorical (perhaps even literal) bloodbath. However, the political and religious leaders of the region remained remarkably loyal to each other. It seemed that, despite the palace intrigue, each figure recognized the other as necessary to keeping the fortress together.
Nothing served as a better example of the emerging shining fortress culture than the trials and tribulations of Roger Williams. Though he was a charismatic and popular figure in Massachusetts Bay in the early 1630s [4], his views often rubbed up against traditionalists like Endecott. When he returned to Boston in 1633 after a brief stint in Plymouth, he immediately faced charges of undermining the legitimacy of the King and Charter, as well as spreading “dangerous ideas.”
Weeks before Williams was set to appear in court, news of the Catholic Declaration reached Boston. The trial, which was over his remarks decrying the charter of Plymouth as illegitimate, ended in Williams’s favor remarkably quickly after that [5].
As outrage over the Catholic Declaration swept across New England and the idea of a shining fortress emerged, the proceedings surrounding Williams’s heresy charges slowed, gradually at first, until the courts started giving him a series of delays. Eventually the charges were dropped, in no small part due to Governor Dudley’s influence. The message was clear: not everyone liked Williams’s beliefs, but he was more valuable to the Puritan cause as a free man [6].
Anne Hutchinson met a similar fate to Williams. Many prominent members of the Boston church wanted to push her out due to the so-called “Antinomian Controversy.” In the face of the patriarchal Massachusetts clergy, Hutchinson was not let off the hook quite as easily as Williams. However, allies like Reverend John Wheelwright pointed to her unique talent for galvanizing the women of Boston for the Puritan cause (albeit her version of Puritanism) and successfully framed her efforts as a bulwark against Catholicism [7].
As mentioned before, political separatism was at most a small minority opinion, but sympathies towards the sentiment were growing, particularly among the more radical liberals and strictest conservatives. It was not like anyone important was openly declaring independence from England, but remarks that would’ve gotten someone thrown in jail in 1625 were reduced to mild cultural taboos by 1635.
Roger Williams’s aforementioned run-in with the law over the Colony’s charter was a prominent example of shifting attitudes. When he first questioned the legitimacy of Massachusetts’s charter, some called for his imprisonment or banishment for questioning an act of the King. However, within a few years the charges were dropped and he was more popular than ever, as if the event had never happened. Furthermore, plenty of prominent Massachusites [8] would soon question another act of the King, the Catholic Declaration, and see no repercussions.
On the other side of the spectrum, John Endecott was in a very similar position to Roger Williams. In 1634 he defaced the flag of Massachusetts for bearing St. George’s Cross, declaring it a symbol of the papacy. At first there were rumblings of censuring him, but as outrage towards the Catholic Declaration swelled and calls for Puritan unity grew, those rumblings died out [9].
Among the average pilgrim, one might hear someone declare that they would never return to England. The implication was that England had not just forced them out, but that it was incapable of being their home anymore. Such a remark was seen as subversive and would receive stern looks and shakes of the head, but nothing more. While everyone still considered themselves Englishmen, it became increasingly common to hear rebukes of English authority and society – not just religion.
The role of women in this shining fortress was another subject of fierce debate. The dominant view of society was highly patriarchal. The most conservative leaders believed that women were property of their husbands, could not own property of their own, had to adhere to a strict dress code (including covered hair), and that women had no role outside the domestic, meaning no power in political, social, or religious circles. The most radical of conservatives even spoke in hushed tones about witchcraft. Moderates believed in most of these principles, but to lesser degrees. For example, John Winthrop believed that women’s participation in society was good for the spiritual health of the colony but was outraged at Anne Hutchinson’s participation in “masculine” activities like leading the church.
Anne Hutchinson was the principal advocate for the rights of New English women, though Roger Williams and other prominent liberal men backed her ideas. Hutchinson drew attention to the commonly held belief that men and women were spiritual equals and argued that barring women from religious, social, and political leadership violated that equality and thus went against God’s word. As she further entrenched herself in the Boston clergy, she met stiff resistance from all but the most liberal of male preachers but made significant inroads with Bostonian women. Her female followers in turn applied pressure within their households. This pressure didn’t create a society of feminists, but it did take the edge off of the most extreme conservative views of the time [10].
Late 1630s Plymouth and Massachusetts were hotbeds of religious anger, debate, an ever-evolving sense of societal identity, and, most of all, fear and paranoia. All that fear was directed at the existential threat of the Crown and English Church stripping away their religious identity. With a common enemy to fear, theologians who may have otherwise torn each other to shreds with accusations of heresy instead recognized their similarities. Though the exact nature of the burgeoning New English society was yet to be determined, the idea of the Shining Fortress coalesced into a common meaning by 1640. The Shining Fortress was Puritan solidarity.
[1] This was a common rumor in OTL as well. Between Charles I’s Catholic wife, Catholic children, charter for Catholic-friendly Maryland, and some Catholic-aligned beliefs about the structure of the Anglican Church, Puritans on either side of the pond heavily suspected he was a Catholic. ITTL the act of “forcing” Catholicism upon a large area like Virginia is seen as harsher than the creation of Maryland in OTL.
[2] Separatism was only a small, but vocal minority opinion in OTL. ITTL both anti-Catholic and anti-Anglican sentiments are much stronger in New England due to what many interpret as the head of the Anglican Church forcibly converting a large swathe of English land to Catholicism.
[3] This is admittedly an odd reading of Williams’s philosophy compared to how we view him in OTL, especially in heavily Catholic Rhode Island. Though we put Maryland and Williams’s Rhode Island in the same boat of “early religious tolerance” in OTL because both had Catholic populations, it’s important to note that Williams distinguished between general freedom of religion and a state explicitly endorsing certain faiths, even minority ones like Catholicism. Additionally, Williams’s beliefs are likely to skew more anti-Catholic ITTL due to the general zeitgeist in New England and the political benefit of appealing to anti-Catholics.
[4] More popular than OTL due to anti-Catholic outrage making Separatism much more popular.
[5] Williams believed that the King had issued illegitimate charters because he had not purchased the land from the native Narragansett people. We’ll get into these views in a later chapter. This trial ended in his favor IOTL as well, but ends faster ITTL.
[6] IOTL Williams was banished from Massachusetts Bay over these charges. He would venture southwest and found Providence Plantation, leading to the Colony (and then State) of Rhode Island. With political and Puritan unity being much more important in TTL’s New England, he stays in Boston, butterflying away Rhode Island. Sorry to any residents of the Ocean State! I didn’t go into this intending to butterfly Rhode Island, but keeping Williams in Massachusetts felt too interesting to pass up.
[7] Hutchinson was also exiled and fled to Rhode Island IOTL. Like Williams, she’ll stick around as an important figure in Boston.
[8] I know the term is now Massachusettsan/Massachusettsian, but I like the sound of this archaic term better and it fits the era, so I’m sticking with it!
[9] IOTL Endecott was barred from political office for a year over the action, but was forgiven during the English Civil War, during which time he returned to the governorship.
[10] Notably, Anne Hutchinson’s continued presence in Boston politics will butterfly the Salem Witch Trials.
Feel like there would be a united New England down the road. Massachusett's southward expansion to OTL RI and CT is natural and IMO basically inevitable.
Terrific! Love the idea that the disparate factions among the Puritans would find common cause with a direct-from-the-King papist threat to the South. Should make for some interesting developments in New England and potentially lead to it moderating (in some ways) earlier than OTL given the butterflied banishments and executions. I'm sure the conservatives will continue to be influential, but at least there will an accepted opposition pre-1690s. The English Civil War years should prove interesting and in New England.
I wonder how all of this will impact the mid-Atlantic colonization, the seizure of New Netherland and the settling of OTL Pennsylvania. Not to mention the generally Cavalier slave lords of coastal Carolina. Depending on how quickly and how radical and New England gets in its pushback against the mother country that could potentially impact of the "Quakers go forth out of Great Britain" attitude from the government.
I wonder how all of this will impact the mid-Atlantic colonization, the seizure of New Netherland and the settling of OTL Pennsylvania. Not to mention the generally Cavalier slave lords of coastal Carolina. Depending on how quickly and how radical and New England gets in its pushback against the mother country that could potentially impact of the "Quakers go forth out of Great Britain" attitude from the government.
As the smaller colonies do not appear in this timeline, it could impact the future American system of government. One of the challenges was the issue of small states versus large states. The House of Representatives was created to satisfy the large states. The Senate was created to satisfy the small states. If Delaware is butterflied away, I am wondering if the remaining colonies/states would be large enough to where there would just be a Senate?
I am enjoying this timeline and I looking forward to more updates.
I am enjoying this timeline and I looking forward to more updates.
Or rather, just a House. It was the small states that wanted equal representation.. Though given the title of the timeline, I'd guess that they won't be coming together at all...
The Connecticut Colony is settled during this period, it just wasn't brought up in this chapter since most of the political and religious action was centered in Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth. I'll get more into the smaller NE colonies in a couple chapters. That being said, Massachusetts is absolutely a regional powerhouse, much more so than OTL
Thanks! I'll admit, when I first started working on this TL, I expected NE to be dominated by generic radical Puritanism, but diving into the different factions and figuring out how they could compromise has been a lot of fun. And yeah, the English Civil War, New Netherland, and Quakers are all going to provide some interesting wrinkles for New English society.
I can confirm that we won't be getting a full coming together like OTL's United States (though a Senate-less USA would be a fascinating TL in and of itself). Still, the presence of large, dominant colonies/states will absolutely affect the trajectory of North American democracy.
Chapter 4: Friends, Foes, and Food
Chapter 4: Friends, Foes, and Food
In early December 1635, the delegates from Virginia returned from their negotiations with King Charles I. Much to the dismay of the General Assembly and William Capps (who had been serving as interim Governor), John Harvey was on this ship.
The mood in the crowd changed dramatically when Harvey made his announcement: His Majesty had ordered John Harvey reinstated as governor… until 1636 [1]. The united front presented by Anglicans and Catholics alike convinced the King that Harvey’s performance was well and truly terrible, rather than believing Harvey’s claim of some slanderous conspiracy. Cecil Calvert, Lord Baltimore, also stepped in to lobby against Harvey, per instructions from Leonard.
Cecil’s lobbying was also enough to push through another major request: the appointment of William Capps as the official Governor of Virginia. Even the largely Anglican delegation was willing to give Cecil some credit for convincing Charles.
Capps himself proved to be an excellent choice in the King’s eyes. He was one of the primary agitators who petitioned Charles I to take over the Colony from the Virginia Company, so the claims of Harvey’s mismanagement rang truer by association.
The Governorship of William Capps was fairly uneventful, all things considered. After the purported tyranny of John Harvey, Capps opted to take a hands-off approach. Most policy in 1636 was dictated by the General Assembly, with Capps usually providing a rubber stamp to whatever they proposed. As such, he facilitated the further expansion of plantations up the James River.
That was not to say Capps was totally passive. He had two priorities as Governor: carrying out the will of the Crown and building up Jamestown. As soon as he took office, a Puritan faction of the Assembly led by Richard Bennett sought to test his principles by calling for the expulsion of Catholics from the Colony. Before Leonard Calvert could offer a defense, Capps furiously shut down the debate by suggesting such defiance of the Catholic Doctrine bordered on treason.
“I have no praise for the papists,” Capps said (much to Calvert’s chagrin) “But it is not our role to question the laws of His Majesty” [2].
Capps also sought to expand on his work from the 1620s by commissioning notable improvements to Jamestown. He previously pushed hard for more artisans in the Colony and by God he was going to make use of them. In particular, he commissioned three improvements at the start of 1636: a new statehouse, a warehouse designated for non-tobacco exports, and new fortifications [3].
William Capps’s governorship looked to be a rousing success, save for one roadbump: he died a year into office. On January 9, 1637, he was found dead in his plantation home in Elizabeth City. He was 61 [4].
By vote of the General Assembly, John West served as interim Governor while they waited for King Charles I to appoint Capps’s replacement. Some men suggested sending another delegation to lobby for West’s appointment, but the General Assembly ultimately opted to leave the decision up the King, recognizing that they were pushing their luck last time.
On November 7, 1637, a ship anchored near Jamestown. On it was a man virtually unknown to the Virginian settlers. At 32 years old, the man held no significant titles or achievements, but was nevertheless a friend and distant relative (by marriage) of the King. When he greeted the General Assembly in the partially constructed statehouse, he spoke with a quick wit and gentlemanly charm. This stranger introduced himself as Governor William Berkely [5].
The colonists were initially nervous about this young, unknown figure. In some ways, this was justified. He was a complete newcomer to the colony and thus had no direct experience with the climate, new world plantations, the Powhatan, or the political drama of the Virginia Company and John Harvey. He had an agenda of his own and a stated distaste for tobacco. He also quickly demonstrated a large ego, talking down to the less-educated members of the General Assembly on multiple occasions in an effort to pull rank.
Fortunately, Berkeley had his upsides. He was a well-educated member of the English gentry, meaning he had extensive knowledge of business and agriculture (even if planting in Virginia was new to him). He was a personal friend of the King and staunch loyalist, which angered the Puritans, but appealed to most of the General Assembly, especially Leonard Calvert. He was an expert at understanding the factionalism and politics of Virginia’s elite and quite deft at navigating them, which helped keep the peace. And despite his ego, he had no desire to play tyrant.
In fact, Berkeley’s governorship started with a major peace offering to the wary colonists: a proposed reform to the General Assembly that came with official recognition from the Crown. The General Assembly would split into a bicameral body. The Governor’s Council turned into the upper house, the Council of State, while the elected members would form the lower house, the House of Burgesses. The Governor himself would be removed from the legislature, retaining only the ability to appoint members of the Council of State and propose bills to both houses. Otherwise, he would have no power to alter or control the General Assembly without an act of the King [6]. With this gift, the colonists were largely willing to accept Berkeley as one of their own and give his agenda a chance.
A few of Berkeley’s top goals was shared with Capps’s administration. Most notably, he pushed hard for the diversification of Virginia’s export economy. Yet, when he first pitched the idea to the Council of State, he was met with protests of “We don’t know what else grows here,” and “Why fix what isn’t broken?”
Not content to leave the issue at that, Berkeley began experimenting with various crops in his free time at his Green Spring plantation. He experimented with grains like wheat, rice, and barley; fruits like lemons, oranges, and grapes; and even silk. He found greatest success with rice, theorizing it would grow even better in a slightly warmer climate to the south.
Though other planters were reluctant to adopt rice at first, his success with the crop and incessant preaching to the General Assembly about the economic benefits of diverse exports encouraged plantations to pick it up one by one. He even helped teach less educated planters how to work the new crop. By the mid-1640s, rice solidified its place as Virginia’s second cash crop, albeit far from tobacco’s popularity. Rice also made its way into Virginian cuisine after one of Berkeley’s slaves taught him how to make a few West African rice dishes. From this humble start, Jollof Rice would go on to be a staple of Virginian cuisine for centuries [7].
Berkeley also had dreams of spurring major expansions to the Colony, and thus commissioned expeditions to the mountains to the west, plains and valleys to the southwest, coast to the south, and the bay to the north [8].
The northern expedition came back with a major surprise. They had expected to find a few nice harbors and new native tribes to size up and trade with – both of which they indeed found. They also anticipated southern outposts of the New Netherland Colony. They found settlers at the mouth of the South River (later known as the Delaware River), but they weren’t Dutch, they were Swedish. This threw many of the more politically minded Virginians for a loop. They knew that the Swedish Empire was powerful, but never considered them to be a potential colonial rival. Some colonists grumbled at the loss of valuable land, while others (notably William Claiborne) saw the fledgling New Sweden as a potential trade partner.
The southwest expedition revealed lands rich with valuable furs. However, there was no water route from the James to that region, meaning expansion into the region would have to wait until they had a more secure hold on the continent.
The southern expedition revealed a coastal plain very similar to what they had already settled. Berkeley would later ask them to return to plant rice and discovered that, as he had theorized, the land was ideal for the crop. The explorers also reported a chain of barrier islands, leaving the coast easily defended (albeit less so than the Chesapeake Bay).
The western expedition didn’t return at all. Fears of an accident or attack by the natives festered until finally a strange bit of news reached Jamestown. A plantation far up the James received delegates from Weroance Opechancanough of the Powhatan. Opechancanough’s men admitted to capturing the expedition and demanded that Governor Berkeley meet to discuss their intrusion into Powhatan land.
Berkeley would ultimately agree to the meeting, travelling with Claiborne and a small garrison – enough to protect them, but not enough to spark fears of an invasion.
When Berkeley finally met Opechancanough, the Weroance was furious. He accused the explorers of being scouts and spies laying the groundwork for further English intrusions into Powhatan lands. He was partially right, but Berkeley insisted that the explorers were merely conducting a survey.
Berkeley wasn’t the first Englishman to lie to Opechancanough and frankly even if he were telling the truth, Opechancanough wouldn’t have trusted his word. He declared that the scouting party amounted to an act of war – perhaps an exaggeration, but a successful one, judging by the panicked reaction among the Virginian delegation. Even though Berkeley had not been part of the Anglo-Powhatan Wars himself, he had heard just how much of a disaster they were from his advisors.
Berkeley offered a deal: in exchange for the captured men and a guarantee of peace, he would bar Virginians from pushing farther into Powhatan lands. It took some tense negotiating over the exact boundary line, but eventually the two parties came to an agreement.
Once the Virginians left, an advisor asked Opechancanough if they could really trust the Englishmen not to expand.
“Certainly not,” said the Weroance. “These Englishmen are like poison ivy. They will continue to spread until cut down, and will wither whatever they touch.” He ordered his men to begin training. War was not here yet, but they would be prepared when it came [9].
Before revealing the shaky peace he had negotiated, Governor Berkeley ordered the construction of a series of forts along the far reaches of the James River and drafted legislation calling for the strengthening of local militias.
The peace deal was met with burning outrage in the House of Burgesses, with the decision to limit settlement seen as tyranny of the highest order. However, Berkeley was able to restore some order when he explained his reasoning.
“If the stories you told me are true,” said the Governor, “Then we cannot trust the Powhatan to stop their raiding for long. And when they show their true colors, we will make them pay.” War was not here yet, but when it came, Virginia would claim its rightful dominance over the continent.
The planters calmed down at the notion of the border being temporary. Berkeley further satiated them by promising to appeal to the King to expand the Colony’s borders, allowing more settlements to the north and south [10].
While Virginia’s relationship with the Powhatan looked to collapse within years, Berkeley strove to improve relations with other bordering tribes. William Claiborne, whose Kent Island settlement was growing by the year, successfully lobbied to prioritize trade with the tribes to the north, such as the Lenape, Susquehannock, and Choptank.
To facilitate this northern trade expansion, connect with the colonies of New Netherland and New Sweden, and hopefully block those colonies from expanding south, Claiborne and Calvert partnered to found a small trading post at the mouth of the Susquehannock River. The post would have an informal, subservient business relationship with Kent Island and be run primarily by Catholic landowners from St. Mary’s City.
After a long debate over the settlement’s name, the two men decided on something rather unconventional for an English town: Skanderborg. Named for a town and castle in Denmark, it served as a tribute to King Charles I’s mother, Anne of Denmark, who was born there. Denmark was also a fitting source of inspiration, as both the settlement and country were in close proximity to Swedes.
Berkeley’s last initial priority was another carryover from Capps. On the order of the King, he set out to improve Jamestown. While it was a long, long way from a city of grandeur, he set out to make some basic improvements to quality of life. To fight the early spring mud, he commissioned a series of brick and cobblestone roads to the town’s major buildings. To help build those roads, he continued Capps’s investment in local artisans, and pushed for additional housing to keep them in the community.
Despite its ups and downs, William Berkeley considered the first few years of his governorship to be a success. He would do everything in his power to maintain that success in the coming years, even as England loomed on the verge of disaster, threatening to drag Virginia down with it [11].
[1] OTL royal clerks quoted the King as saying he had to reinstate Harvey, even if for one day, to assert his authority. Harvey ultimately got reinstated for his full term (at least, until he was overthrown again), but with the caveat that his term could be cut short by bad behavior. ITTL a combination of better arguments by the Virginians and another factor soon to be discussed convince Charles I to cut his term short. This all happens much faster than OTL due to the Virginian delegation taking Harvey straight to and from London, rather than him lollygagging around England for months.
[2] There’s no specific records regarding Capps’s opinion of Catholics, but given he was a 17th Century English Protestant, one can assume he wasn’t a fan. That being said, he was a strong loyalist who frequently put the will of the Crown above his own personal gain.
[3] Hosting government affairs in an Anglican church was, as Leonard Calvert observed, hostile to the new Catholic colonists – plus church and state affairs got in each others’ way in the shared space. The warehouse reflected Capps’s desire to diversify the Colonia economy in OTL. New and improved fortifications were also a natural choice for a man who’d lived through the second Anglo-Powhatan war and driven out an entire village to build a plantation.
[4] As mentioned in Chapter 2, Capps’s date of death in OTL is unclear. However, 1637 seems to be the most consistent date. Plus, it gives extra time for our next governor, so I’ll go with it for now.
[5] 4 years earlier than Berkeley came to power in OTL.
[6] He did this at the start of his first term in 1642 in OTL.
[7] Berkeley found moderate success with rice IOTL, spreading it to Carolina, but it didn’t catch on as a major crop. ITTL, he has more time as governor (particularly before the English Civil War), giving him more time to successfully encourage widespread cultivation. The story about Berkeley learning rice dishes from a slave came from OTL, though the dish was never specified, so I chose Jollof.
[8] OTL Berkeley himself led the expeditions into what would become Carolina, but stays behind to govern ITTL. The absence of Maryland to the north encourages him to send expeditions north ITTL to better pin down the foreign colonies of the Mid-Atlantic.
[9] The Third Anglo-Powhatan War is pushed back, but likely not butterflied entirely.
[10] By expanding Virginia’s charter to the south, Berkeley has butterflied Carolina. Like Rhode Island, I didn’t go into this TL intending to get rid of it, but it made sense when I got to it. Beeg Virginia is inevitable.
[11] But that’s a story for another day! Next time, we’ll look into some more goings on in New England, and after that we’ll finally delve into the wild world of the English Civil War.
In early December 1635, the delegates from Virginia returned from their negotiations with King Charles I. Much to the dismay of the General Assembly and William Capps (who had been serving as interim Governor), John Harvey was on this ship.
The mood in the crowd changed dramatically when Harvey made his announcement: His Majesty had ordered John Harvey reinstated as governor… until 1636 [1]. The united front presented by Anglicans and Catholics alike convinced the King that Harvey’s performance was well and truly terrible, rather than believing Harvey’s claim of some slanderous conspiracy. Cecil Calvert, Lord Baltimore, also stepped in to lobby against Harvey, per instructions from Leonard.
Cecil’s lobbying was also enough to push through another major request: the appointment of William Capps as the official Governor of Virginia. Even the largely Anglican delegation was willing to give Cecil some credit for convincing Charles.
Capps himself proved to be an excellent choice in the King’s eyes. He was one of the primary agitators who petitioned Charles I to take over the Colony from the Virginia Company, so the claims of Harvey’s mismanagement rang truer by association.
The Governorship of William Capps was fairly uneventful, all things considered. After the purported tyranny of John Harvey, Capps opted to take a hands-off approach. Most policy in 1636 was dictated by the General Assembly, with Capps usually providing a rubber stamp to whatever they proposed. As such, he facilitated the further expansion of plantations up the James River.
That was not to say Capps was totally passive. He had two priorities as Governor: carrying out the will of the Crown and building up Jamestown. As soon as he took office, a Puritan faction of the Assembly led by Richard Bennett sought to test his principles by calling for the expulsion of Catholics from the Colony. Before Leonard Calvert could offer a defense, Capps furiously shut down the debate by suggesting such defiance of the Catholic Doctrine bordered on treason.
“I have no praise for the papists,” Capps said (much to Calvert’s chagrin) “But it is not our role to question the laws of His Majesty” [2].
Capps also sought to expand on his work from the 1620s by commissioning notable improvements to Jamestown. He previously pushed hard for more artisans in the Colony and by God he was going to make use of them. In particular, he commissioned three improvements at the start of 1636: a new statehouse, a warehouse designated for non-tobacco exports, and new fortifications [3].
William Capps’s governorship looked to be a rousing success, save for one roadbump: he died a year into office. On January 9, 1637, he was found dead in his plantation home in Elizabeth City. He was 61 [4].
By vote of the General Assembly, John West served as interim Governor while they waited for King Charles I to appoint Capps’s replacement. Some men suggested sending another delegation to lobby for West’s appointment, but the General Assembly ultimately opted to leave the decision up the King, recognizing that they were pushing their luck last time.
On November 7, 1637, a ship anchored near Jamestown. On it was a man virtually unknown to the Virginian settlers. At 32 years old, the man held no significant titles or achievements, but was nevertheless a friend and distant relative (by marriage) of the King. When he greeted the General Assembly in the partially constructed statehouse, he spoke with a quick wit and gentlemanly charm. This stranger introduced himself as Governor William Berkely [5].
The colonists were initially nervous about this young, unknown figure. In some ways, this was justified. He was a complete newcomer to the colony and thus had no direct experience with the climate, new world plantations, the Powhatan, or the political drama of the Virginia Company and John Harvey. He had an agenda of his own and a stated distaste for tobacco. He also quickly demonstrated a large ego, talking down to the less-educated members of the General Assembly on multiple occasions in an effort to pull rank.
Fortunately, Berkeley had his upsides. He was a well-educated member of the English gentry, meaning he had extensive knowledge of business and agriculture (even if planting in Virginia was new to him). He was a personal friend of the King and staunch loyalist, which angered the Puritans, but appealed to most of the General Assembly, especially Leonard Calvert. He was an expert at understanding the factionalism and politics of Virginia’s elite and quite deft at navigating them, which helped keep the peace. And despite his ego, he had no desire to play tyrant.
In fact, Berkeley’s governorship started with a major peace offering to the wary colonists: a proposed reform to the General Assembly that came with official recognition from the Crown. The General Assembly would split into a bicameral body. The Governor’s Council turned into the upper house, the Council of State, while the elected members would form the lower house, the House of Burgesses. The Governor himself would be removed from the legislature, retaining only the ability to appoint members of the Council of State and propose bills to both houses. Otherwise, he would have no power to alter or control the General Assembly without an act of the King [6]. With this gift, the colonists were largely willing to accept Berkeley as one of their own and give his agenda a chance.
A few of Berkeley’s top goals was shared with Capps’s administration. Most notably, he pushed hard for the diversification of Virginia’s export economy. Yet, when he first pitched the idea to the Council of State, he was met with protests of “We don’t know what else grows here,” and “Why fix what isn’t broken?”
Not content to leave the issue at that, Berkeley began experimenting with various crops in his free time at his Green Spring plantation. He experimented with grains like wheat, rice, and barley; fruits like lemons, oranges, and grapes; and even silk. He found greatest success with rice, theorizing it would grow even better in a slightly warmer climate to the south.
Though other planters were reluctant to adopt rice at first, his success with the crop and incessant preaching to the General Assembly about the economic benefits of diverse exports encouraged plantations to pick it up one by one. He even helped teach less educated planters how to work the new crop. By the mid-1640s, rice solidified its place as Virginia’s second cash crop, albeit far from tobacco’s popularity. Rice also made its way into Virginian cuisine after one of Berkeley’s slaves taught him how to make a few West African rice dishes. From this humble start, Jollof Rice would go on to be a staple of Virginian cuisine for centuries [7].
Berkeley also had dreams of spurring major expansions to the Colony, and thus commissioned expeditions to the mountains to the west, plains and valleys to the southwest, coast to the south, and the bay to the north [8].
The northern expedition came back with a major surprise. They had expected to find a few nice harbors and new native tribes to size up and trade with – both of which they indeed found. They also anticipated southern outposts of the New Netherland Colony. They found settlers at the mouth of the South River (later known as the Delaware River), but they weren’t Dutch, they were Swedish. This threw many of the more politically minded Virginians for a loop. They knew that the Swedish Empire was powerful, but never considered them to be a potential colonial rival. Some colonists grumbled at the loss of valuable land, while others (notably William Claiborne) saw the fledgling New Sweden as a potential trade partner.
The southwest expedition revealed lands rich with valuable furs. However, there was no water route from the James to that region, meaning expansion into the region would have to wait until they had a more secure hold on the continent.
The southern expedition revealed a coastal plain very similar to what they had already settled. Berkeley would later ask them to return to plant rice and discovered that, as he had theorized, the land was ideal for the crop. The explorers also reported a chain of barrier islands, leaving the coast easily defended (albeit less so than the Chesapeake Bay).
The western expedition didn’t return at all. Fears of an accident or attack by the natives festered until finally a strange bit of news reached Jamestown. A plantation far up the James received delegates from Weroance Opechancanough of the Powhatan. Opechancanough’s men admitted to capturing the expedition and demanded that Governor Berkeley meet to discuss their intrusion into Powhatan land.
Berkeley would ultimately agree to the meeting, travelling with Claiborne and a small garrison – enough to protect them, but not enough to spark fears of an invasion.
When Berkeley finally met Opechancanough, the Weroance was furious. He accused the explorers of being scouts and spies laying the groundwork for further English intrusions into Powhatan lands. He was partially right, but Berkeley insisted that the explorers were merely conducting a survey.
Berkeley wasn’t the first Englishman to lie to Opechancanough and frankly even if he were telling the truth, Opechancanough wouldn’t have trusted his word. He declared that the scouting party amounted to an act of war – perhaps an exaggeration, but a successful one, judging by the panicked reaction among the Virginian delegation. Even though Berkeley had not been part of the Anglo-Powhatan Wars himself, he had heard just how much of a disaster they were from his advisors.
Berkeley offered a deal: in exchange for the captured men and a guarantee of peace, he would bar Virginians from pushing farther into Powhatan lands. It took some tense negotiating over the exact boundary line, but eventually the two parties came to an agreement.
Once the Virginians left, an advisor asked Opechancanough if they could really trust the Englishmen not to expand.
“Certainly not,” said the Weroance. “These Englishmen are like poison ivy. They will continue to spread until cut down, and will wither whatever they touch.” He ordered his men to begin training. War was not here yet, but they would be prepared when it came [9].
Before revealing the shaky peace he had negotiated, Governor Berkeley ordered the construction of a series of forts along the far reaches of the James River and drafted legislation calling for the strengthening of local militias.
The peace deal was met with burning outrage in the House of Burgesses, with the decision to limit settlement seen as tyranny of the highest order. However, Berkeley was able to restore some order when he explained his reasoning.
“If the stories you told me are true,” said the Governor, “Then we cannot trust the Powhatan to stop their raiding for long. And when they show their true colors, we will make them pay.” War was not here yet, but when it came, Virginia would claim its rightful dominance over the continent.
The planters calmed down at the notion of the border being temporary. Berkeley further satiated them by promising to appeal to the King to expand the Colony’s borders, allowing more settlements to the north and south [10].
While Virginia’s relationship with the Powhatan looked to collapse within years, Berkeley strove to improve relations with other bordering tribes. William Claiborne, whose Kent Island settlement was growing by the year, successfully lobbied to prioritize trade with the tribes to the north, such as the Lenape, Susquehannock, and Choptank.
To facilitate this northern trade expansion, connect with the colonies of New Netherland and New Sweden, and hopefully block those colonies from expanding south, Claiborne and Calvert partnered to found a small trading post at the mouth of the Susquehannock River. The post would have an informal, subservient business relationship with Kent Island and be run primarily by Catholic landowners from St. Mary’s City.
After a long debate over the settlement’s name, the two men decided on something rather unconventional for an English town: Skanderborg. Named for a town and castle in Denmark, it served as a tribute to King Charles I’s mother, Anne of Denmark, who was born there. Denmark was also a fitting source of inspiration, as both the settlement and country were in close proximity to Swedes.
Berkeley’s last initial priority was another carryover from Capps. On the order of the King, he set out to improve Jamestown. While it was a long, long way from a city of grandeur, he set out to make some basic improvements to quality of life. To fight the early spring mud, he commissioned a series of brick and cobblestone roads to the town’s major buildings. To help build those roads, he continued Capps’s investment in local artisans, and pushed for additional housing to keep them in the community.
Despite its ups and downs, William Berkeley considered the first few years of his governorship to be a success. He would do everything in his power to maintain that success in the coming years, even as England loomed on the verge of disaster, threatening to drag Virginia down with it [11].
[1] OTL royal clerks quoted the King as saying he had to reinstate Harvey, even if for one day, to assert his authority. Harvey ultimately got reinstated for his full term (at least, until he was overthrown again), but with the caveat that his term could be cut short by bad behavior. ITTL a combination of better arguments by the Virginians and another factor soon to be discussed convince Charles I to cut his term short. This all happens much faster than OTL due to the Virginian delegation taking Harvey straight to and from London, rather than him lollygagging around England for months.
[2] There’s no specific records regarding Capps’s opinion of Catholics, but given he was a 17th Century English Protestant, one can assume he wasn’t a fan. That being said, he was a strong loyalist who frequently put the will of the Crown above his own personal gain.
[3] Hosting government affairs in an Anglican church was, as Leonard Calvert observed, hostile to the new Catholic colonists – plus church and state affairs got in each others’ way in the shared space. The warehouse reflected Capps’s desire to diversify the Colonia economy in OTL. New and improved fortifications were also a natural choice for a man who’d lived through the second Anglo-Powhatan war and driven out an entire village to build a plantation.
[4] As mentioned in Chapter 2, Capps’s date of death in OTL is unclear. However, 1637 seems to be the most consistent date. Plus, it gives extra time for our next governor, so I’ll go with it for now.
[5] 4 years earlier than Berkeley came to power in OTL.
[6] He did this at the start of his first term in 1642 in OTL.
[7] Berkeley found moderate success with rice IOTL, spreading it to Carolina, but it didn’t catch on as a major crop. ITTL, he has more time as governor (particularly before the English Civil War), giving him more time to successfully encourage widespread cultivation. The story about Berkeley learning rice dishes from a slave came from OTL, though the dish was never specified, so I chose Jollof.
[8] OTL Berkeley himself led the expeditions into what would become Carolina, but stays behind to govern ITTL. The absence of Maryland to the north encourages him to send expeditions north ITTL to better pin down the foreign colonies of the Mid-Atlantic.
[9] The Third Anglo-Powhatan War is pushed back, but likely not butterflied entirely.
[10] By expanding Virginia’s charter to the south, Berkeley has butterflied Carolina. Like Rhode Island, I didn’t go into this TL intending to get rid of it, but it made sense when I got to it. Beeg Virginia is inevitable.
[11] But that’s a story for another day! Next time, we’ll look into some more goings on in New England, and after that we’ll finally delve into the wild world of the English Civil War.
Great stuff. I wonder if the deep reaches of southern Virginia will still be settled by land-hungry Barbadian slave-lords, bringing a distinctly different model of plantation economy to the continent. However beeg VA becomes, at some point to the south there would presumably need to be a new colony set up with a more local government, especially to buffer against and dissuade Spanish expansion up the coast.
Northern expansion seems to have its upper limits as well, with Skanderborg being (for now) as far north as the Dominion can go, with Swedes on the coast. If the Northern War goes as OTL, the Dutch will soon supplant them, but what happens after that will very much depend how the Anglo-Dutch Wars proceed. The First almost certainly still happens at some point in the 1650s, but just how much circumstances change ITTL from the Civil War and what the settlement of the First Dutch War looks like greatly affects the trajectory and outcome of a Second Dutch War. Either New Netherland sticks around a while longer, or it’s supplanted roughly on schedule and New York (or it’s equivalent) becomes the “Third Faction” in English America.
If the English claim Dutch America roughly on-schedule, I wonder if it’s kept united rather than cleaving off New Jersey. With a more dominant Virginia to the south and an expanding Mass Bay to the north it could be tempting to have a strong middle.
I also wonder about the fate of Plymouth and Connecticut. Will they get absorbed by Mass Bay? Will the King (whoever it eventually is) have more interest in keeping New England divided since Mass Bay seems more rebellious earlier ITTL? Will New Englanders desire unity in the face of a large Anglican colony to their immediate south blocking expansion?
Loving the implications and possibilities of this timeline. Keep it up!
Northern expansion seems to have its upper limits as well, with Skanderborg being (for now) as far north as the Dominion can go, with Swedes on the coast. If the Northern War goes as OTL, the Dutch will soon supplant them, but what happens after that will very much depend how the Anglo-Dutch Wars proceed. The First almost certainly still happens at some point in the 1650s, but just how much circumstances change ITTL from the Civil War and what the settlement of the First Dutch War looks like greatly affects the trajectory and outcome of a Second Dutch War. Either New Netherland sticks around a while longer, or it’s supplanted roughly on schedule and New York (or it’s equivalent) becomes the “Third Faction” in English America.
If the English claim Dutch America roughly on-schedule, I wonder if it’s kept united rather than cleaving off New Jersey. With a more dominant Virginia to the south and an expanding Mass Bay to the north it could be tempting to have a strong middle.
I also wonder about the fate of Plymouth and Connecticut. Will they get absorbed by Mass Bay? Will the King (whoever it eventually is) have more interest in keeping New England divided since Mass Bay seems more rebellious earlier ITTL? Will New Englanders desire unity in the face of a large Anglican colony to their immediate south blocking expansion?
Loving the implications and possibilities of this timeline. Keep it up!
Isn't that a fairly modern thing?
IIRC, a large reason for so many Catholics in the north of the US is because of Irish, Italian, Polish etc. immigration from the mid 19th century onwards.
Meanwhile, the south was pretty Anglican originally.
Yes, its recent. But its still an Interesting observation.
If Cromwell invades Ireland on time, more Catholics may move into Virgina, ie, more Catholic Dixie.
Yeah, they are not going to be welcome in New England. Like, at all.
Obviously this is going to be subject to sooooooo many butterflies, but I am now imagining the Kennedy dynasty, but with some form of southern accent.
After a quick gander at wikipedia, it seems to be a combination of a lot more popularity amongst both poor people and slaves (since they were more pro-equality than the more pro-traditional hierarchy of Anglicanism), vs. the largely Anglican aristocracy.
Don't forget the French Canadians!
It will be interesting to see how that conflict plays out here.
My theory is that everything will remain similar geopolitically uptill French and Indian Wars.
So Washington's, Especially George Washington will not be butterflied away.